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ASNC Working for YOU!

Since 1993, ASNC has been advocating on behalf of its members and the field of nuclear cardiology. ASNC is the leading voice of the nuclear cardiology community on Capitol Hill and with state and federal agencies.

ASNC's advocacy efforts have accomplished the following in 2018:1. ASNC Convenes 28 National Societies, including the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians, to formally oppose the AUC Mandate in a letter to key congressional committees
ASNC led the effort to urge Congress to acknowledge the duplicative and costly nature of the AUC Mandate and to deem health care professionals compliant with the AUC Mandate if they meet the requirements of the Quality Payment Program.

2. ASNC CEO Kathy Flood and Director of Health Policy Andy McKinley regularly met with congressional and committee staff to discuss the AUC Mandate
Ms. Flood and Mr. McKinley had in depth conversations with the office of Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La) and staff from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, among others. Along with their coalition partners, they stressed the breadth of the AUC Mandate and the absence of a clear quality component.

3. ImageGuide Registry® QCDR Status
For the fourth straight year, ASNC's ImageGuide Registry is classified as a CMS-designated Qualified Clinical Data Registry. ImageGuide remains a great solution for clinicians to report MIPS requirements in performance year 2019 and beyond.

4. Stakeholder Engagement on Securing a Secure Supply of Molybdenum-99
ASNC and a coalition of medical societies, healthcare providers, patients, medical imaging companies, radiopharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors urged the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget to ensure a secure domestic supply of Molybdenum-99. The letter reflects ASNC's concerns about patient access to important nuclear medicine procedures and its commitment to timely and effective cardiovascular patient care.

5. Collaboration on Improving Cardiovascular Health among South Asian Communities in the United States
ASNC joined a coalition of 16 medical societies including the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, to support H.R. 3592. The South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act would expand grants for culturally appropriate outreach efforts and research. South Asian communities have a risk of heart disease four times higher than the general population.

6. ASNC Submits Comments to the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the “Patient Test Result Information Act"
ASNC reiterated its support for the intent of the legislation- care coordination and an informed dialogue between patients and clinicians. However, ASNC noted unintended consequences may detract from these goals. Patients are often best informed by discussing an imaging report and the detailed test results with the ordering physician. The ordering physician may work with the patient on health literacy, fully explain the medical report, judge the full clinical context, and outline treatment options clinically. ASNC is concerned that requiring an “imaging entity” to directly notify patients when a “significant abnormality” is found may lead to patient requests for unnecessary tests, and patient and family dissatisfaction and confusion.

7. Category III Blood Flow for PET
ASNC led a successful application for CPT code 0482T- Absolute Quantitation of Myocardial Blood Flow in PET. ASNC conducted a webinar on the use of CPT code 0482T in early 2018. View archived webinars at asnc.org.

8. The NRC Incorporates ASNC's Comments into its 10 CFR Part 35 Medical Use Amendments
Effective January 19, 2019, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will amend the training and experience requirements for authorized users of medical isotopes. The NRC undertook this review and amendment process due to a concern that the existing requirements have had unintended consequences that, if not corrected, would likely lead to a shortage of authorized individuals to provide medical care. The NRC adopted a number of ASNC's proposals to alleviate this situation, including eliminating the attestation requirement for individuals seeking authorized status via the board certification pathway.